EU has no plans to recall envoy in Syria

(BRUSSELS) - The European Union has no plans to withdraw its head of delegation from Syria, a spokesman said Tuesday, stressing that the EU needs a presence there to "report and observe".

Britain, Belgium, Italy and France have recalled their ambassadors from Damascus for consultations, while the United States has closed down its mission over the brutal crackdown on protests in Syria.

"We have no plan at all from the (EU) External Action Service to withdraw our head of delegation in Damascus at this point in time," Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, told a news briefing.

"We believe it's important to have people on the ground particularly as there is no free press in the country so that we can report and observe what is going on," he said.

The EU's representative in Syria, Vassilis Bontosoglou, has been in Damascus since 2007.

Western powers have denounced the decision on Saturday by Russia and China to veto a motion before the UN Security Council to condemn Syria, and Assad's forces have stepped up their assault on the rebel city of Homs.

Mann said the EU's foreign service will continue "to do everything we can diplomatically" with the 27 EU states and international partners "to try and bring an end to this totally unacceptable situation."

The EU continues to support Arab League efforts to end the nearly year-old crackdown, the spokesman said.

"We think that this should be an Arab-led process," Mann said. "We call upon the international community to take its responsibilities and to have an international solution to this problem."

The UN resolution rejected by Moscow and Beijing was proposed by European and Arab nations to give strong backing to the League's plan.